Former AFL greats have taken aim at the length of the league’s off-season, with Sydney Swans players singled out for what’s been called an excessive break before pre-season training.
Speaking on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, Kane Cornes said he was staggered to hear Swans coach Dean Cox reveal that first-to-fourth-year players would return on 10 November, while senior players would start on 24 November, 93 days after their last game on 23 August.
“That is a 93-day break for our AFL players, and you are telling me these are full-time players. It is a joke and no wonder the skill level (is questionable and) injuries are high,” Cornes said on the programme. “(AFL players) get far too much time off (and) that’s not including Christmas.”
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Calls for reform in pre-season schedules
Cornes, who has long campaigned for a shorter off-season, believes coaches are not given enough time to prepare squads and that the lengthy lay-off is a factor in early-season injury spikes. He has previously written that the AFL Players’ Association wields “far too much power” in dictating terms.
On SEN earlier this year, he said: “Players get far too much time off and the lack of preparation is leading to this significant spate of injuries… If you’re wondering why everyone is getting injured and why it’s never been worse, this is why.”
Fellow panellist Nick Riewoldt added that “AFL footy will remain a part-time job in 2026” if such extended holidays continue.